Romney Draws Attention as McCain VP Pick; Experience Gained Through Work With With Josh Bekenstein

Released on: August 20, 2008, 4:12 pm

Press Release Author: Roger L. Newman

Industry: Government

Press Release Summary: As the Republican National Convention draws nearer, so doesspeculation on John McCain's running mate. Among contenders for McCain's would-be VPspot are a number of conservatives considered popular among evangelical Christiancontingents.

Press Release Body: As the Republican National Convention draws nearer, so doesspeculation on John McCain's (http://www.johnmccain.com/) potential running mate.Among the many contenders for McCain's would-be VP spot are a number ofconservatives considered popular among the Republican Party's evangelical Christianand traditional conservative contingents. Recent articles(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/us/politics/16veep.html) have suggested suchconservative heavyweights as Tom Ridge, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Gov. Bobby Jindal, andeven McCain's former foe, Mitt Romney (http://www.mittromney.com/), although manyare placing their bets on a McCain-Romney ticket in the fall(http://www.slate.com/id/2197245/). Despite the well-documented rivalry betweenMcCain and Romney (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/02/05/mccain/) in theprimaries, recent reports seem to indicate that the two men have settled theirformer grievances, with Romney placing his full support behind the McCain campaignin recent months. The blogosphere has been abuzz with chatter about the possibilityof McCain tapping into Romney's appeal among conservatives perhaps unsure aboutMcCain's stance on stalwart issues such as abortion, with some bloggers(http://suburbanconservative.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/mitt-romney-for-vice-president/)suggesting Romney's broad voter appeal and all-American image would make him abetter choice than contenders such as Mike Huckabee(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/19/uselections2008.vicepresident).

Of course, choosing Mitt Romney for his VP is far from a conservative slam-dunk forMcCain. Although Romney's deep economic experience and close ties to battlegroundstates like Michigan(http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnBQ_XY-_xg-zJPbsccA7vVw_RPgD92LJK400) couldprove fruitful this November, Romney's big-business past and Mormon religion canmake him an attractive target for detractors.

One of Romney's top selling points, however, is his economic experience. Beforeembarking on his political career, Romney led the start-up of Bain Capital(http://www.baincapital.com/) through its early inception managing $37 million inassets to its massive expansion, managing over $4 billion. Romney's 15-year careerat Bain is considered by many to be not only a major personal success but also ahuge source of credibility on economic matters, which McCain will need in a runningmate come this November's election(http://blogs.forbes.com/trailwatch/2008/08/mccains-vice-pr.html).

Romney's influence and connections in the multi-billion dollar world of privateequity is another big asset. Much of Romney's pull among members of the businesscommunity comes from his successful tenure at Bain Capital. In Romney's unsuccessfulPresidential bid earlier this year, Romney, despite running as a Republican, managedto attract some Democratic donors among his ranks of supporters. Josh Bekenstein(http://www.baincapitalprivateequity.com/team/index.asp?viewType=ByRegion&d_Bio_ID=67),a managing director of Bain Capital and one of Romney's long-time colleagues,contributed to his friend Mitt's Presidential campaign(http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=name&lname=Bekenstein&fname=Josh)while also donating to the Democratic National Convention(http://www.demconvention.com/). Barack Obama's (http://www.barackobama.com/) 2008Presidential campaign also counts Josh Bekenstein as one of its donors. MittRomney's close connection with industry heavyweights like Josh Bekenstein, whoworked with Romney at consulting firm Bain & Company (http://www.bain.com), and thenco-founded Bain Capital with Romney in 1984(http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/part3/) could help Romneyappeal to a wide swath of voters who are potentially "on the fence" about theirPresidential choice. Having important (Democrat) friends like Josh Bekensteincertainly won't hurt Romney's credibility or ability to draw voters from across thepolitical spectrum. Romney's ties to the Fraser Bullocks and Josh Bekensteins of theprivate equity world have the potential to attract undecided voters who value issuessuch as economic revitalization and social conservatism over issues like religionand immigration(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-forum16-2008aug16,0,6960752.story).But recent media reports suggest that the road ahead could prove challenging, ascritics examine Romney's business ties and statements made during the 2008 primarycampaign(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31debate.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/P/Politics%20and%20Government&pagewanted=all).No matter what happens in the coming weeks, though, you can expect Mitt Romney toleverage his significant influence, experience, prominent friends like JoshBekenstein - Democratic and Republican alike, and relationships gained through bothhis work at Bain Capital and as governor of Massachusetts - as well as hisconsiderable television presence(http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/08/kerry_romney_he.html)- to drive his further political career. Whether that means working as John McCain'spotential second-in-command or, who knows, even running for President again in 2012(http://mitt12.com/), Mitt Romney probably isn't fading into obscurity any timesoon.